Whether you subscribe to the Birth Order philosophy or not, you have to admit that firstborn children tend to have similar character traits. They often are leaders, organized, a bit on the controlling side, go-getters.

Our firstborn shows these traits and one more: he’s a neat-nick; doesn’t like to be dirty. This fact was magnified the other day when all the boys were tasked with two things: pick up dog poop and move firewood onto the back porch.

I cringed as I watched the three younger boys holding bags and slinging doggy doo with their winter mittens and bare hands. I just imagined how dirty their mittens must be getting (I’m a firstborn too). I couldn’t help but chuckle when Jake joined them in the below-freezing temperatures with a pair of rubber gloves on his hands. He figured he might as well keep them on for task #2 because wood can be pretty dirty too.